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*************************** "Vote Swapping: Protesting Bush Without Electing Kerry" The Libertarians may be on the verge of doing something politically smart this year. Don’t laugh. I’m serious. For years, the Libertarian Party has had a major public relations problem, brought on by...well, themselves. To most Americans, the libertarian philosophy is defined solely as drug legalization and open borders. And as a political party over the last 30-some years, the LP has had all the success of the French military. What is truly unfortunate is that the libertarian philosophy is truly the governing philosophy most closely related to that of our founding fathers; things such as limited government, low taxes, individual liberty and a free market. Of course, those are the same principles often articulated by Republicans. So what’s the difference? The Libertarians mean it. Still, you can’t ignore the fact that Libertarian Party candidates at the state and national level (we’re not talking about local hospital board races here) don’t win elections. So when Republicans wander off the limited-government reservation, the LP doesn’t exactly offer a credible alternative, but rather serves solely as a “spoiler” which often results in the election of the far worse liberal Democrat. In the past, I’ve taken a back seat to no one in criticizing the spoiler role that LP candidates play in elections between marginal Republicans and horrible Democrats. But at the same time, I’ve criticized Republican candidates for not reaching out to libertarian-leaning voters in the same manner as they suck up to blacks, Hispanics, women and “NASCAR dads.” After all, the Libertarians actually have alternative candidates on the ballot. Shouldn’t Republicans at least “throw a bone” to libertarian-leaning voters? Don’t hold you breath. The GOP establishment continues to simply blow off these voters. Where else are they gonna go, right? Well, just ask FORMER moderate Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA), who lost his re-election bid in 2000 by 2,229 votes...while the LP candidate on the ballot pulled in 64,734 votes. The result: Democrat Sen. Patty Murray. Lovely. The 2000 presidential contest was a squeaker. Expect the same this year. And President Bush, without listing all the examples here, is deservedly under fire by limited-government conservatives and libertarians. But instead of addressing their concerns, the campaign is again just blowing them off. And why not? Where are they going to go, right? Kerry? They have a point. In this environment, who wants to trust the nation’s defense to Jane Fonda’s old running buddy? But by the same token, many voters still want to send the president a message that they’re mad as hell with his big-government policies and they’re not going to take it any longer. And here’s where the LP might show some political smarts and maturity. Back in 2000, when it looked as though Ralph Nader’s third-party candidacy could cost Al Gore the presidency, an Internet phenomenon arose called “vote swapping.” It works like this (Warning: You must understand how the Electoral College works to understand this strategy): There are some states which the two major-party candidates have “locked,” and there are others which are toss-ups. So if you were a Nader voter in 2000 who lived in a toss-up state, you could go on the Internet and “swap” your vote with a Gore voter in a “lock” state. You agreed to vote for Gore in the competitive state if the other person agreed to vote for Nader in a “lock” state. That way, in theory, you didn’t risk a Gore loss in the Electoral College, but still registered your disapproval in the aggregate general election total. Libertarians supporting Gary Nolan, their candidate for president in 2004, may launch a similar “vote swap” effort this year on the right. If so, a significant protest vote against some of President Bush’s policies could be registered in the general election vote total without jeopardizing the nation by electing Kerry in the Electoral College. If they’re successful, you just might see the largest vote total for a Libertarian Party candidate in the nation’s history. Nevertheless, the LP will continue to serve as nothing but third-party spoilers in close elections at the state and congressional levels. But if the GOP continues to blow off the growing number of voters who are sick and tired of big-spending, big-government compassionate conservatism, then they DESERVE to have their elections spoiled. # # #
